Financial firms expect sharp spike in cyberthreats in FY19

As consumers embrace new ways to pay and Artificial Intelligence (AI) takes away the mundane jobs, financial services companies in India are trying to find new ways to identify vulnerabilities and mitigate cyber risks.

The change from offline-to-online transactions brings risks and as the speed of payment increases, risks also increase. Financial institutions need to be wary of the risk that they inherit from third-party business partners, says Vishal Goyal, country manager, South Asia at US-headquartered data analytics firm FICO.

Eighty percent financial services companies (banks, non-bank lenders and insurance companies) expect cyberthreats and data breach activity, against 60% of retailers and 47% of telecommunication firms, FICO said in an email to Fortune India.

The financial services firms are most likely to spend more than any other sector and investments will be directed towards on-going monitoring, scoring and reporting service for cyber security risk (47%) and a tested data breach response plan (33%) to boost consumer confidence. 80% of these firms are covered by cyber risk insurance, FICO said in the email.

“As Indian government push for digital growth in the country, consumer confidence in the digital system is very important,” adds Goyal.

According to a survey by FICO published in October 2018, cybersecurity investment trends in India are primarily driven by two factors—expectation of increasing threat and pressure from customers or investors.

The survey titled C-Suite Survey 2018, done in collaboration with independent research company Ovum, shows that 67% Indian financial services firms are expecting a bigger budget in FY19-20, while 47% has reported an increase in cyberattacks in the current fiscal.

The survey, conducted across e-commerce and retail, financial services, power and utilities, and telecommunications sector in India, across companies with more than 500 employees, showed that more than half (56%) Indians expect a rise in cyberattacks with most concern in midsize companies (with employee size in the range of 1,001-4,999).

Indians have been vulnerable to cyberattacks in the recent past and the average time spent by them in resolving the issue is way above the global average of 23.6 hours.

In 2017, at least 186 million adults were victims of cybercrime incidents in India—more than half the adult population active online (1.8 billion) and USA, showed the 2017 Norton Cyber Security Insights Report, with losses amounting to $18.5 million and consumers spending 50.7 hours dealing with the aftermath.

FICO, in its October survey said that with attacks expected to increase in volume and bigger penalties expected from regulators, breach risk is more important than ever before.